2012

Cinder, Marissa Meyer’s debut, is a science fiction romance that is both clearly inspired by the tale of Cinderella and clearly for teenage readers. In this future world, androids are as common as pets, while cyborgs are ostracized and loathed. The descendants of the humans who colonized the Moon have evolved into Lunars with their own culture, their own leadership, ... Read More »

At the opening of The King’s Blood, we find ourselves back in the remains of the Dragon Empire and the world of the Thirteen Races of Humanity. Geder Palliako is suddenly an important figure in the Antean Court, with the mysterious Spider Priests at his side. Kalliam Dawson, a noble of the old order, works to maintain the tradition of ... Read More »

When the daughter of one of Boston’s wealthiest is murdered with no apparent cause of death, her family goes to the only person they can: Ethan Kaille, conjurer. Upon investigation, it is readily apparent to Ethan that the girl was murdered with magic. However, he has competition that doesn’t appreciate his being hired for this particular job. Throw in two ... Read More »

The Hammer and the Blade is a series-debuting novel by New York Times bestseller Paul S. Kemp. It introduces us to the adventuring duo of Egil, a warrior-priest, and his erstwhile companion Nix, a sneak, rogue, thief, and general ne’er-do-well, as they loot tombs, quaff ale, and generally get in over their heads. Hilarity ensues. A Tale of Egil and ... Read More »

The Dead of Winter is the début novel by American author Lee Collins, and billed as “True Grit meets True Blood,” it’s a paranormal western action mystery (I know right!?). It pits the investigating gunfighters Cora and her husband Ben Oglesby against vampires and other supernatural enemies in the silver mining town of Leadville, Colorado. Certainly a novel concept It ... Read More »

In Naomi Novik’s marvelous alternative history Temeraire series, the British armies fight the French warmonger Napoleon Bonaparte—and both armies possess an air force of dragons. It’s a concept that merges everything that’s good about fantasy, combining an imaginative, meticulously detailed historical setting with dragons, swords, battleships, and gunpowder. Thus, it should come as no surprise that the Temeraire series is one of ... Read More »

The Grandson of the Great Khan, Temur, awakens on a field of dead men, having just survived a bloody battle in a civil war his uncles have perpetuated. Abandoned and alone with no family and no friends, Temur finds a pony and begins to ride away from the dead. After finding a lover, Edene, among the people of the plains, ... Read More »

A stand-alone adult novel from author Dan Wells, The Hollow City is a thriller that thematically and tonally follows closely in the footsteps of Wells’ own I Am Not a Serial Killer trilogy, but branches off into new territory for the author in terms of content. The Hollow City follows Michael Shipman, a man who wakes up in the hospital having ... Read More »

Insurgent is the second book in the Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth. The trilogy will complete with an as-yet-untitled third book in fall 2013, followed by a movie of the first book, Divergent, due out in 2014. The world as we know it is gone, replaced by a strictly caste-based society in the ruins of Chicago. Tris Prior was born ... Read More »

It has been two years since Kameron Hurley shocked the science fiction community with her debut novel God’s War. Now, Hurley’s blood-soaked trilogy has come to an end with the novel, Rapture. Does Hurley end the trilogy with a flourish or a whimper? The answer cannot easily be heard under the rousing applause that Rapture deserves. Rapture is one of ... Read More »